Foldable bed guard rail

ABSTRACT

A foldable side guard rail assembly for a bed in which a pair of spaced parallel posts are pivotally mounted on the bed and at least one rail is connected between the posts. The posts are capable of being pivoted between a first vertical position and a second lowered position in which the posts are substantially horizontal. Since the rail is pivotally connected at each of its ends to the posts, the rail is able to maintain a horizontal position during the movement of the posts. When the posts are moved into their first position, they are releasably locked into place by a locking mechanism. This locking mechanism is constructed so that it is capable of being released upon the application of a downward force.

United States Patent 1191 Taylor FOLDABLE BED GUARD RAIL [76] Inventor:Harry E. Taylor, lngalls St., Clifton Forge, Va. 24422 [22] Filed: June20, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 371,688

Primary Examiner-Casmir A. Nunberg Attorney. Agent, or FirmSpencer &Kaye 1451 Oct. 15, 1974 57 ABSTRACT A foldable side guard rail assemblyfor a bed in which a pair of spaced parallel posts are pivotally mountedon the bed and at least one rail is connected between the posts. Theposts are capable of being pivoted between a first vertical position anda second lowered position in which the posts are substantiallyhorizontal. Since the rail is pivotally connected at each of its ends tothe posts, the rail is able to maintain a horizontal position during themovement of the posts. When the posts are moved into their firstposition. they are releasably locked into place by a locking mechanism.This locking mechanism is constructed so that it is capable of beingreleased upon the application of a downward force.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEBUEHBW 3.840.917

sum 1 or a FIG In FIG. lb

PATENT mom 1 51914 SHEEI 2 0F 3 PATENTEBUBT 1 51974 sum 30f m QE m oE 1FOLDABLE BED GUARD RAIL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The presentinvention relates to a folded bed guard rail assembly for attachment tothe side of a bed.

It is common to utilize guard rails on the side of beds for theprotection of patients such as in hospitals and nursing homes. One knownembodiment of a foldable guard rail which can be utilized for suchpurposes is presented in my US. Pat. No. 3,336,609. With the foldableguard rail disclosed by this patent, however, the locking mechanism mustbe hand actuated thereby making it difficult to tend to the patientwhile lowering the guard rail. Furthermore, in the disclosed guard rail,the person lowering the rail must be very careful not to get his fingerscaught between the vertical posts and the horizontal rails.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is toprovide an improved foldable bed guard rail assembly which eliminatesthe above-mentioned drawbacks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable bedguard rail assembly which has a locking mechanism capable of beingreleased by a foot actuation. A further object of the present inventionis to provide a foldable bed guard rail assembly which can be easily andsafely operated.

These objectives are accomplished in accordance with the presentinvention by providing a foldable bed guard rail assembly which includestwo parallel posts each of which is mounted on the bed and a horizontalrail connected between these parallel posts, with the parallel postsbeing capable of being moved between a raised and lowered position andlocked into position when in their raised position. Each of theparallel-posts is connected to a mounting bracket via a respective pivotbar. The parallel posts are rigidly connected to one end of therespective pivot bar, with the other end of the pivot bar beingpivotally connected to a respective mounting bracket. The horizontalrail is pivotally connected between the two parallel posts.

The parallel posts, therefore, can be pivoted between a first verticalposition and a second folded position, in which they are substantiallyhorizontal, while the rail connected between the posts maintains asubstantially horizontal orientation during the pivoting movement of gthe posts. When the posts are raised to their first vertical position,they are locked into place by a releasable loking mechanism. Thislocking mechanism includes a lever which is pivotally mounted on one ofthe mounting brackets. This lever has two sections which areperpendicularly arranged with respect to each other, with one of thesesections being capable of operatively engaging the bottom of therespective pivot bar when the posts are in their first position so asto. prevent the downward movement of the pivot bar and, consequently,also of the posts. Upon applying a downward force to the other sectionof the lever, the first section is pivoted out of engagement with thepivot bar thereby allowing the posts to be moved into their secondposition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1a shows a side elevational viewof a bed having a foldable side guard rail assembly, according to thepresent invention, mounted thereon.

FIG. 1b shows a side elevational view similar to FIG. la with one of theguard rails in a lowered position.

FIG. 2 is a transverse elevational view along line 1-1 of FIG. la, withthe bed being removed, showing guard rails on both sides of the bed.

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the mounting arrangement and lockingmechanism of the guard rail assembly of the present invention with theguard rail in its raised position.

FIG. 4 shows the arragement shown in FIG. 3 with the guard rail beingpivoted into its lowered position.

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged transverse view along line II-II of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. la, a bedguard rail assembly 1 is mounted on the side of the bed 10. The guardrail 1, which can consist of two sections arranged on opposite sides ofthe bed 10, includes two parallel posts 3, which are mounted on the bedand rails 2 which are connected between the posts 3'. The posts 3 arerigidly attached to the pivot bars which are in turn pivotally mountedon the mounting brackets 5 which are secured to the frame of the bed, sothat the posts 3 are effectively pivotally mounted on the frame of thebed 10.

The guard rail assembly 1 can be lowered from the first position asshown in FIG. 1a to a second lowered position as' shown in FIG. 1b. Uponlowering the guard rail, the posts 3 are pivoted via the pivot bars froma vertical position to a substantially horizontal position. Since therails 2 are pivotally secured between the posts 3, the rails'2 maintaina horizontal position during the lowering of the guard rail. The secondsection of the guard rail assembly arranged on the opposite side of thebed is visible in, FIG. 1b.

Both of the sections of the guard rail 1 are interconnected at thebottom of their respective mounting brackets 5 via a rod 13 as shown in.FIG. 2. These mounting brackets 5 are attached to the bed with the useof .l-bolts l2.

In order to provide a sufficient amount of space for one to grip therails 2 when lowering the guard rail 1, the rails 2 are spaced from theposts 3 by the spacers 8. This spacing between the rails 2 and the posts3 allow the guard rails to be easily and safely gripped by the personlowering the guardrail. Furthermore, in order to enable the personlowering the guard rail to do so without having his fingers caughtbetween the rails, stops 21, such as for example rubber nubs areattached on the rails 2 so as to limit the movement of the rails towardeach other.

As mentioned above, the posts 3 are rigidly connected to the pivot bars4, this connection is made via the brackets 9, so that there is spacebetween the respective post and pivot bar. The pivot bar is pivotallyconnected to the mounting bracket 5 via bolt 11.

The locking mechanism includes a lever 6, which has two perpendicularlyarranged sections 6a and 6b. The lever is pivotally attached to themounting bracket 5 so that section 6b is in operative engagement withthe bottom of one of the pivot bars 4, as shown in FIG. 3. A spring 7,which is connected between bolt 11 and section 6b of the lever 6releasable holds the lever 6 in engagement with the pivot bar 4 so thatonce the guard rail is placed into its upright position the leversection 6b prevents any downwards movement of the pivot bar and,consequently, also of the posts which are rigidly connected to the pivotbars. Since the posts 3 are unable to move, the guard rail is locked inits upright position. When moving the guard rail into its uprightmovement, the movement of the pivot bars 4 is limited by stop member 20.In raising the guard rail, the the end of the pivot bar fits into theU-shaped member 20, which is closed at the top, such that when the postsreach their vertical position further movement of the pivot bars, andtherefore also the posts, is limited by member 20.

Upon appying a downward force on section 6a of the lever 6, which isdone by stepping on section 6a, the lever is pivoted out of engagementwith the pivot bar 4, as shown in FIG. 4. The pivot bar 4 is now free topivot about the bolt 11 thereby enabling the guard rail to be loweredinto the position shown in FIG. 1b.

The details of the mounting bracket can be seen from FIGS. 4 and S. Thebracket 5 includes two plates 14 and l5.- Plate 15 is secured to plate14 via bolts 18 and plate 14 in turn is secured to the frame of the bedwith the use of the J-bolts 12. y

it will be understood that the above description of the presentinvention is susceptible to various modifications, changes andadaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within themeaning'and range of equivalents of the appended claims.

1. A foldable side guard rail assemblyvfor beds comprising, incombination: apair of spaced mounts for engaging the bed; a pair ofparallel posts, each associated with a respective one of said mounts; apair of pivot bars, each of said pivot bars at one end being rigidlyconnected to a respective one of said posts at the lower end thereof andextending in a perpendicular direction from said respective post; pinmeans pivotally connecting each of said pivot bars at the other endthereof to a respective one of said mounts so that each of said posts ispivotally connected with a respective one of said mounts; at least onerail connected between said posts so that said posts are interconnectedand being pivotally secured therewith at locations above the lower endsof said posts; said posts being simultaneously pivotable between a firstvertical position and a second folded substantially horizontal positionwhile said rail maintains a substantially horizontal orientation duringthe pivoting of said posts and said pivot bars assuming a horizontalposition upon positioning of said posts in their vertical position;spacer means disposed between said rail and said posts for horizontallyoffsetting said rail with respect to said posts to prevent a personsfingers grasping said rail from being caught between said rail and saidposts when said posts are pivoted into said folded position; limitingmeans preventing said posts from moving beyond the vertical positionwhen said posts are pivoted from their second position to their verticalposition; locking means for releasably locking said posts in theirvertical position, said locking means including a lever pivotallymounted on one of said mounts and said lever having two sectionsapproximately perpendicularly arranged with respect to each other, saidfirst section when said lever is in a first position being operativelyengaged with the bottom of the respective pivot bar at a position spacedfrom said pin means when said posts are in a vertical position so as toprevent downwward movement of said pivot bar thereby preventing movementof said posts, and said lever being capable of being pivoted into asecond position when a force is applied in a downward direction to saidsecond section of said lever for enabling pivotal movement of said poststo occur; and bias means for resiliently biasing said lever into itsfirst position.

2. A foldable side guard rail assembly as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid second section of said lever is arranged such that said lever iscapable of being foot actuated.

3. A foldable side guard rail assembly as defined in claim 1 whereinthere are a plurality of parallel horizontally spaced rails eachpivotally interconnected between said posts and further comprising stopmeans on selected ones of said" guard railsprojecting in a verticaldirection and being capable of engaging an adjacent one of said railsthereby limiting the vertical movement of said rails towards each other.a

4. A foldable side guard rail assembly as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid bias means isa spring connected between said first section of saidlever and said respective mount.

1. A foldable side guard rail assembly for beds comprising, incombination: a pair of spaced mounts for engaging the bed; a pair ofparallel posts, each associated with a respective one of said mounts; apair of pivot bars, each of said pivot bars at one end being rigidlyconnected to a respective one of said posts at the lower end thereof andextending in a perpendicular direction from said respective post; pinmeans pivotally connecting each of said pivot bars at the other endthereof to a respective one of said mounts so that each of said posts ispivotally connected with a respective one of said mounts; at least onerail connected between said posts so that said posts are interconnectedand being pivotally secured therewith at locations above the lower endsof said posts; said posts being simultaneously pivotable between a firstvertical position and a second folded substantially horizontal positionwhile said rail maintains a substantially horizontal orientation duringthe pivoting of said posts and said pivot bars assuming a horizontalposition upon positioning of said posts in their vertical position;spacer means disposed between said rail and said posts for horizontallyoffsetting said rail with respect to said posts to prevent a person''sfingers grasping said rail from being caught between said rail and saidposts when said posts are pivoted into said folded position; limitingmeans preventing said posts from moving beyond the vertical positionwhen said posts are pivoted from their second position to their verticalposition; locking means for releasably locking said posts in theirvertical position, said locking means including a lever pivotallymounted on one of said mounts and said lever having two sectionsapproximately perpendicularly arranged with respect to each other, saidfirst section when said lever is in a first position being operativelyengaged with the bottom of the respective pivot bar at a position spacedfrom said pin means when said posts are in a vertical position so as toprevent downwward movement of said pivot bar thereby preventing movementof said posts, and said lever being capable of being pivoted into asecond position when a force is applied in a downward direction to saidsecond section of said lever for enabling pivotal movement of said poststo occur; and bias means for resiliently biasing said lever into itsfirst position.
 2. A foldable side guard rail assembly as defined inclaim 1 wherein said second section of said lever is arranged such thatsaid lever is capable of being foot actuated.
 3. A foldable side guardrail assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein there are a plurality ofparallel horizontally spaced rails each pivotally interconnected betweensaid posts and further comprising stop means on seleCted ones of saidguard rails projecting in a vertical direction and being capable ofengaging an adjacent one of said rails thereby limiting the verticalmovement of said rails towards each other.
 4. A foldable side guard railassembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said bias means is a springconnected between said first section of said lever and said respectivemount.